• December 30, 2016

    PacTrans Director Delivers Keynote at GDSI Conference in Taiwan

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    This past November, PacTrans director, Dr. Yinhai Wang, traveled to Taipei, Taiwan to give a keynote address at the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association (GDSI) 15 World Conference. The conference lasted for five days, from 29 November to 2nd December in 2016. The theme of conference was Spatial Enablement in Smart Homeland, including three main topics of Smart Disaster Prevention, Smart Transportation and Smart City.

    Dr. Wang spoke about the many pressing issues facing our current transportation system: congestion, safety, mobility, aging/failing infrastructure without funding sources to keep up, etc. He then posted the idea that the emergence of big data may hold the key to solving these seemingly immovable problems. After spending some time on new technologies for collecting data and new innovative data sources, his spent the remainder of his time giving research examples from his lab, here at the University of Washington. Specifically he talked about the Digital Roadway Interactive Visualization and Evaluation Network, or DRIVE Net, data analytics platform.

    The (GSDI) Association was formed in 2004 as an inclusive networking organization of academic and research institutions, government agencies, commercial geomatics firms, national and regional GI associations and individuals (geo professionals and students) from around the world. The purpose of the Association is to promote international cooperation and collaboration in support of local, national and international spatial data infrastructure (SDI) research and implementations that will allow nations to better address social, economic, and environmental issues of pressing importance, including sustainable development.